A dad from East Lothian has been left devastated after his e-bike was stolen in broad daylight at a busy supermarket.
Kenny Abbott, 42, loves going mountain biking with his 14 year old son, Kaycee, and saved for over a year to get an e-bike so they could go up to Glentress together.
But on Sunday Febuary 5, Kenny stopped off at Tesco in Dalkeith at around 1.30pm on his way home. He parked in the car park and was only in the shop for about five minutes. He then heard the tannoy asking the driver of his car to come to the customer service desk where he was told that two men had pulled his beloved e-bike off the back of his car.
READ NEXT- Edinburgh lorry stuck under bridge at busy roundabout sparking huge delays
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, the dad-of-three from Tranent said: "It was in the car park, right in front of everybody. They didn't care! They physically cut the lock and pole off and left the back of my car all scratched from where they pulled it off from the bike rack.
"I was only in Tesco for five minutes and then heard my name get called over the tannoy and when I went to the desk there was a woman there speaking to the staff telling them that guys had taken my bike.
"It is so brazen of them, they did it right in front of people. One older lady said to me that she wish she had said something, but then you don't know these guys, they could have attacked her, so I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."
He added: "The police came really quickly, but what gets me is that it feels like an organised crime. On the CCTV the police said that the guys can see me coming in and parking. They don't know if they followed me from my drive from Leven or just picked me up on the road somewhere but they followed me into Tesco.
"I feel really paranoid, it's scary. What if they do it again and target my car when my wife, Charlene, and two-year-old is in there?"
Kenny admitted he's now worried they might know where he lives, if they did follow his car. "It's really scary," he said.
The specialised Levo Turbo e-bike was certainly not cheap either. He explained: "I had saved for a year and a half for the bike. It was £5,500, I worked hard to buy it and I was gutted because my eldest son loves mountain biking. He's 14 going on 15, that's what we do together as father and son. We go up the hills and it can be really tranquil and peaceful up there.
"I was devastated, it's a lot of money. I'm gutted. Me and my son were meant to go up to Dumfries and Galloway next weekend and now we can't do that."
Kenny said that on the CCTV he spotted one man drove away in a car while another took the bike down a lane. While he hopes he can get it back, Kenny knows some of these bikes can be taken to bits and sold for parts.
"I've asked all my friends to look on social media and things like Gumtree to see if they can see it being sold," he said.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 1.30pm on Sunday, 5 February, 2023, officers received a report of the theft of an e-bike on Bonnyrigg Road, Dalkeith. “Enquiries are ongoing.”
READ NEXT-
Lewis Capaldi announces extra Edinburgh date and special guest for sell-out gig
Young Edinburgh man cruelly loses both his parents from exact same disease
Special force assembled as feud between two warring Edinburgh gangs escalates
Edinburgh snow warning as Beast from the East 2 'now likely' say forecasters
Edinburgh police continue crackdown on drivers outside school as more fines issued
